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an evening at Kolabrautin is truly a feast for all the senses.
ICELANDIC PRODUCE
MEDITERRANEAN TRADITIONS.
20The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 3 ? 2013
The Artists Are Present
Recent art school grads open a new breed of art gallery at Kunstschlager
Like many good things, the gallery was the
product of opportunity and good timing.
Gallery co-founder and recent art graduate
Steinunn Harðardóttir set the process into mo-
tion one day while browsing Barnaland (https://
bland.is/) for something fun to buy and came
across a post for a large, cheap space adver-
tised as being good for artists. She rang up
some artist friends to go check out the space
and eventually they signed a lease together.
It was only afterwards that the idea of a
gallery occurred to the group, which con-
sists of Steinunn, Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir,
Baldvin Einarsson, Claudia Hausfeld, Guðlaug
Mía Eyþórsdóttir and Helgi Þórsson. ?In the
beginning we thought we would also use the
upstairs for studios, but then we decided to do
something else in that space,? Helgi said. ?I
had in mind for a long time that if I rented out a
studio, I could have part of it as a showroom. I
think we were all thinking the same.?
This common sentiment among the artists
was largely borne from a sense that something
was missing. ?There aren?t that many opportu-
nities and there are very few places to display
art,? Helgi continued. Guðlaug agreed, citing
her own ambivalence upon graduation from
art school. ?You basically have to do every-
thing on your own and that?s exactly what we
did,? she said. ?We were very lucky to have this
opportunity because three of us just graduat-
ed. Either you do it yourself or you wait 10?15
years to get into a museum.?
ACCESS PASSING
While there?s nothing surprising about the can-
do DIY attitude of the young art community,
it was surprising to hear that this was borne
more out of necessity than desire, as Reykja-
vík has a reputation for fostering artistic events
and talent. The Kunstschlager team took issue
with this, however, pointing out that decent
gallery spaces for emerging artists are few and
far between. ?For a consumer, it might seem
like there is a lot going on, but for someone
who needs a platform to show their art, there?s
not much,? Claudia said.
Aside from a few free galleries that mainly
show more established artists, such as the Liv-
ing Art Museum and ASÍ, there are no spaces
for emerging talent to gain visibility and have
the chance to sell their works, having either
closed (Crymo, Klósett) or been run ineffec-
tively (Dvergur). Most exhibitions take place
in state-run museums, which rotate
every three months and charge
admission. Kunstschlager
aims to fill this gap by stay-
ing open for three hours
every day except Sun-
day, rotating exhibits on
a monthly basis and not
charging for entrance.
The art bazaar is set up
partially as a strategy to
sustain the gallery financially,
but mainly to provide a way for
people to purchase art by emerging
talents at a reasonable price. ?Art is actually
quite hard to get,? Guðlaug said. ?We wanted
to make a venue where that could happen eas-
ily without having to go to a fancy gallery.?
There they also feature an ?Artist of the Week,?
a creative solution they came up with to deal
with the high demand for exhibitions.
MORE, MORE, MORE
The group behind Kunstschlager had several
ideas on how the local art-scape could improve,
including more foreign exhibitors to break up
the repetition of featured names, more diversi-
ty of spatial use and cooperation between art-
ists to establish locations, and more colour, risk
and extravagance in the content of exhibitions.
Their most resonant desire, of course, was
funding. Although the group have recently re-
ceived a modest grant from the City of Reykja-
vík, they have all had to continue working day
jobs to maintain the gallery, which prevents
them from extending their opening hours.
?The art world definitely needs more money,?
Helgi said. ?I think if there was more money
then there would be more spaces, more buyers
and more foreign artists. It would just lead to
more in general.?
- REBECCA LOUDER
To the untrained eye, Reykjavík appears to be a city with no lack of space devoted to art. For emerging artists, however, it can feel like a
bastion for the privileged. One group of recent graduates from Iceland?s Academy of the Arts transformed their frustrations about the
inaccessibility of the art world into their own haven?a multifold space including a gallery, an art bazaar and studio space which they
called Kunstschlager.
?
?
Either you do it
yourself or you wait
10?15 years to get
into a museum
Alísa Kalyanova
ARTGallery Kunstschlager is located at Rauðarárstígur 1, next to Hlemmur. It?s open Monday to Saturday from 15:00 to 18:00. For more info check kunstschlager.com.